November 05, 2013

Cozy DIY Ideas For Autumn Decorating

Hello G45ers,

There's a beautiful quote by Albert Camus that says, "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." This is such a wonderful way to look at this colorful time of year! With such bright and beautiful Autumn colors all around us, it's impossible to not get inspired! Today we're going to explore some gorgeous ideas for Autumn and Thanksgiving crafts. You will see a delightful handmade wreath by Clare Charvill that features our collections French Country and Steampunk Spells. Then we will share a stunning table setting by Nichola Battilana that also features French Country. Today's blog is a true celebration of all the breathtaking inspiration of the season!

We begin by giving a quick shout out to all of our friends on the Graphic 45 Facebook page! If
you want the latest news on Graphic 45 products, daily inspiration and a
way to connect with your fellow G45ers and upload your Graphic 45
creations, then check out the Graphic 45 Facebook
page! Here is an incredible Mother Goose layout that Chris Lim recently uploaded to our Facebook page. Just look at all of those incredible fussy cut elements! This LO definitely captures the fun and adorable spirit of Mother Goose! We
encourage you all to check out
the Graphic 45 Facbeook page for fun and fabulous inspiration!

And now it's time for some fun Autumn crafts! We begin with Clare's dazzling handmade wreath! This is the perfect project for Thanksgiving home decor. It's also great for adding festive Autumn color to any room of the house! Handmade wreaths are so much fun to create and they also make fantastic gifts. Here Clare explains how she created this vibrant work of art. The colors of Autumn really come to life in this joyful craft. Take it away, Clare!

Inspired
by the autumnal colours of some of the papers in the French Country and
Steampunk Spells patterns and solids pads I thought I’d make an up cycled Thanksgiving
Wreath using left over chipboard as my base.

I started
off by drawing around a large dinner plate and then used a side plate for the
inner circle. Once cut out I
sprayed the piece with ink and cosmic shimmer and when dry used Versamark and
UTEE to give a textured finish.

I had
lots of left over papers from the French Country and Steampunk Spells patterns
and Solids pads from earlier projects so decided to put them together to make
the decoration for my wreath. They
worked really well.

Once I’d
cut out the leaves I curled and creased them to give some dimension and then
inked them. I stuck the twigs
together to make branches and then covered them in Versamark and UTEE. All were arranged and stuck to the
wreath with tacky glue.

To finish
off the wreath I added some pumpkins cut from the 12 x 12 Pumpkin Power paper, a
small Thanksgiving chipboard piece, stamped metal brad, rustic bow and ribbons.

Why not
get out your collections, find some autumn coloured papers amongst your offcuts
and have a go at one yourself. Have a
wonderful Thanksgiving and happy crafting.

Next up we have a beautiful French Country project that's just perfect for Thanksgiving or other special occasions! Here is Nichola's dinner party place setting! This is such an elegant way to add charm and sophistication to your dinner table. Let the beautiful colors of your favorite Graphic 45 collection bring festive style to your next party. Follow along with Nichola's fun tutorial to create this pretty craft! Here Nichola explains how she came up with this dazzling idea!

My grandmother turned 80 recently and she’s kind of a big deal. We’ll be hosting a big fancy dinner party in her honor soon and I wanted to gussy up the table. I wanted something elegant and pretty that wasn’t going to be overwhelming to create on a large scale. This trio of menu cards, embellished candles and napkin name cards created with the G45 French Country collection and Petaloo flowers is just the thing. (P.S. Please be extra cautious when embellishing candles with ANYTHING, your safest option is flameless candles.

On the cardstock or bond paper, create boxed name plates that are 2” x .75”. Cut out the boxes and handwrite the names or create them on the computer. I have used a font called Indenture English Penman which you can download a demo for here.

Next
cut a 2” strip from a 12” sheet ofSunflower and a 1.5” x
2.75” rectangle ofMontage.

Tear the bottom of the Montage rectangle to give a
textured edge. Hint: tearing the paper towards you reveals more white paper.

Ink
the cut (not torn!) edges of this and the 2” x .75” nameplate you created.

Assemble
all pieces together. Placing all of the elements in the centre of the 2” x 12”
strip of Sunflower, add a piece of ribbon 1.5” and cliped at one end diagonally
and some pretty coordinating Petaloo flowers.

Overlap
and affix the ends of the strip of Sunflower creating a loop. Press but do not
crease the loop so that you have and elongated oval shape that slips snugly
over your napkin. Hint: Use a
folded napkin as a guide to find the perfect size/overlap placement for your table
setting.

On the cardstock or bond paper, print your event
menu. My card measures 4.2” x 7.6”
I have used a font called Indenture English Penman (download a free demo forhere) and
Goudy. Hint: a general rule of
thumb in design is to limit yourself to two fonts. Select from different
categories of fonts: one script (fancy), one serif (letters with little feet
like most book text), one sans serif ( blocky/squared letters).

Next, cut two pieces of Sunflower: one measuring
5.5” x 9” and the second 7” x 9”. On the larger piece score the short edges at
.25” and fold. With ScorTape affix these folded edges to the edges of the
smaller cut piece, this creates a domed shape which will allow your menu to
stand.

Affix
the Montage and menu card to the flat surface of the stand you’ve just created.
Embellish with May Arts Ribbon and Petaloo flowers. Hint: keep your ribbon in
exactly the right place by using tiny pieces of ScorTape to hold it just so.

We hope you all enjoyed today's cozy ideas for Autumn crafts. We had a lot of fun sharing these gorgeous crafts with all of you. We hope you'll stop by and see us tomorrow as we bring you more fabulous ideas, fun and inspiration to brighten your day. Big thanks to Clare and Nichola for their amazing work today. We also want to thank all of you for joining us! Have a marvelous day, G45ers!

The way the Mother Goose collections makes me smile each and every time I see it and the way it inspires me to start a project with it is intense! I love it! All of the fall projects are beautiful! Wishing you a happy day!

Love the way Chris put the girls pictures in the layout. So cute. It's too bad that fall is such a short span of time (Halloween takes away a lot of the time). the wreath is beautiful. Love the fall colors. The napkin ring makes the table very elegant.

Fabulous. The Mother Goose layout is out of this world and so clever. Such a great idea and so cute. The wreath and tutorial are fabulous and gives me so many ideas and the celebration menu and other party elements are darling. Great proejcts today

MIND-BLOWING projects today! Love the Mother Goose layout (my favorite new collection)! The wreath is a definite must try immediately and the napkin name plate, candle and menu are simply stunning! I am picking my jaw up off the floor after seeing today's projects! Thank you for sharing!